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Cleaning Why we can't use apple vinegar?

fridzalone

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I've asked Ly via PM long time ago, what kind of vinegar that we should use to do the cleaning. I asked because vinegar in my language usually used for apple vinegar. And Ly answered : "No apple cider vinegar. It needs to be plain white vinegar."

Today, on another forum, someone wrote a few words of information about the used of vinegar to cleaning and bathing the pigs. He said that there's 2 kinds of vinegar that can be used :
1. Apple Cider Vinegar to cleaning the cage
2. Distilled White Vinegar to bathing the white fur pigs
And the vinegar should be 5% acidity.

So I told him that Ly said if we can't use apple cider vinegar. And he replied me again asking for explanation and the links of the information about this.

Anyone can help me with this?
Thanks before :)
 

lissie

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I don't know about the apple vinegar.
I'm pretty sure you should not use vinegar to bath your pigs.
When I clean the cage and not wear gloves the vinegar irritates my hands. I think it would irritate the pigs skin too.
 

fridzalone

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Some sites said that pouring small amount of vinegar to their bath water can be used for lice/mites treatment. I don't know if this is just a myth or not, but I never use vinegar for my pigs
 

pinky

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I would never put vinegar on a guinea pig. I got some on a cut one time and it really stung.
 

Duffinvt

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Cider vinegar can stain for one thing. I am not sure if there are any other reasons not to use it for cleaning. I'd never put any kind of vinegar on a guinea pig, either.
 

Slave to the Wheek

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My pigs get washed a lot. In the summer, they get a lot of baths to not only clean them up but to also cool them down. A nice cool bath on a hot summer day makes my piggers quite popcorny. Sometimes as often as once a week, and I have zero problems with their coat or skin. HOWEVER: I'm very careful in my shampoo choice. To wash guinea pigs, you can use any shampoo/soap that is approved for kittens or cats, because cats also groom themselves like a guinea pig does. If you only do it once in a blue moon, you can use a mild human shampoo, just don't add any conditioner. Many dog shampoo's are approved for cats as well, but watch closely what the label says, guinea pigs clean themselves so any shampoo with flea-treatments or medicines in it is not appropriate!!!

I use "Baby Bebe" for my dog and my pigs both. It makes the hair super soft and silky, but I like it because it smells like cucumbers. Once in awhile I do put a little vinegar in the rinse water. To brighten their coat color, especially white pigs, I add few drops of of Mrs. Stewarts Bluing to the sinkful of rinse water and let them sit for a few minutes. It gets the yellow stains out especially after a couple of shampoos.

With the bluing, I KNOW that it's safe, non-toxic and I can control how much I want. Using a "whitening" shampoo opens me up to unknown chemicals and stuff, besides whitening shampoos ARE just shampoo with bluing in them anyway. Just ask your local hairdresser. I just started adding bluing to the shampoo I use on the pigs, cover them with shampoo and let it soak for a bit. I did get one GREEN pig for a few days :shhh: :eye-poppi..but I'd used an awful lot of bluing on him.

Any kind of vinegar in the rinse water is good for your clothes wash, your hair or your pets hair. It simply cuts through any detergent or grease that is residual and rinses it out. It makes the clothes and hair very soft, and I've done it for years. It's amazing for cutting the odor and detergent build-up from old sheets and pig bedding as well. I actually soak my sheets in vinegar water for several hours before rinsing to cut up all the detergent and softener buildup they get over a year of use. In fact, I quit using softener altogether now. I use distilled vinegar for washing because it's cheap to get in gallons. I can get it for about $3 a gallon at a local restaurant supply. I use Apple Cider Vinegar as well, but it costs more, so I am more careful with when I use it.

Straight Apple Cider Vinegar or Distilled vinegar is safe to clean with and will cut odors, but you seriously don't need to use it full strength. Just a tablespoon poured onto an already wet wash cloth is enough to wipe down a piece of coroplast.

It is NOT a treatment for Lice or Mites
that is a myth

Some claim that fleas avoid your dog if you feed your dog vinegar, but it won't kill fleas. It MAY help SOME animals with skin conditions related to their acid levels etc but be wary of such claims.

IMHO: I can't find anything on the web that clearly defines any difference between any of the types of vinegar. I've spent a lot time digging through the web over the last year or so trying to figure out why you see so many sites touting Apple Cider Vinegar specifically. Your question put me onto researching the differences between all the vinegars. It's something I've always wanted to know. Here's decent link
Apple Cider Vinegar

It started when I found out that vinegar added to the diet is a wonderful treatment for 'weepy eyed' dogs by balancing their acid levels out and allowing the tear ducts to drain more efficiently. It worked with my dog so I started researching it more. It seems to apply to any kind of vinegar, although ACV does have more nutrients as far as that goes.

If anyone knows of a reliable source that can describe the differences, I would really appreciate it. I made a visit to the "Vinegar Institute" which looks to be ran by the food industry folks (makes sense I guess) and they don't define differences between them either other than for taste and smell . I do know that Balsamic Vinegar gets sticky when it dries, I'm assuming because it has so much sugar. But I've used both ACV and Distilled vinegars interchangeably over the years. Wine/Rice/Balsamic or other flavored vinegars are a little too expensive to be cleaning with anyway

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the Bragg Vinegar folks are using the web to promote their product, because you see a great deal of people touting that it should be 'unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic' etc. yet I can't find a single reference to back those statements up. The Heinz folks do not differentiate much between their vinegars, other than to say they taste different.
[/quote]Any kind of vinegar RINSE is safe and a great idea, add a little to the rinse water when your washing you or your dogs or pigs. Washing hair with it sounds weird but I suppose it would cut any grease buildup.
 

fridzalone

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I'm not sure either. I mean, Ly must have her own reason why apple cider vinegar are not suitable for pigs. I just not sure about the reason. But, thanks for giving me information about that :)
 

pinky

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My vet never commented on apple cider vinegar but we did discuss regular vinegar. He said distilled vinegars are all exactly the same and the brand makes no difference. The cheapest brand is as good as the most expensive.
 

fridzalone

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My vet never commented on apple cider vinegar but we did discuss regular vinegar. He said distilled vinegars are all exactly the same and the brand makes no difference. The cheapest brand is as good as the most expensive.

Do you mind do me a favor by asking your vet about apple cider vinegar on your next visit? Thanks a lot for the reply :)
 

Cogni

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Distilled vinegar is pure vinegar and it doesn't matter from what fruit it is made because it is so thorough filtered and distilled. There is nothing left in it but the water and citric acid. Apple cider vinegar is made from fermented apples. I assume that there is a tiny bit of color and sweetness flavor left from the apples, although not much. I think for cleaning the only difference might be that the yellowish apple cider vinegar might leave a stain on white fleece. But I have actually used apple cider vinegar in the wash when I was out of white vinegar and it didn't leave stains.
 

Cogni

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Sorry, I meant acetic acid, not citric acid.
 

Ly&Pigs

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I've always been told (grandmother, mother, friends) that white vinegar is for cleaning and cider vinegar for cooking.

White vinegar is distilled vinegar thus won't stain so that's why it's more suitable for cleaning. Cidar vinegar has color to it and some brands have tiny particles of apples floating in them. If one were to have white coroplast (or any light colored coro) and use cider vinegar to clean, it's probably going to stain it, maybe not right away but over time.

Pigs should NOT be bathed often, especially on a weekly basis. Short haired pigs rarely, if ever need bathed and long haired pigs can be bathed about every 3-4 months bot weekly is too often. Human shampoos should NEVER be used on guinea pigs. Only shampoos formulated for small animals such rabbits or guinea pigs or non medicated/non insecticidal cat/kitten, dog/puppy shampoos.
 

fridzalone

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Thanks Ly, and I just want to add another question.
My online friend that lived in Australia and now moved to Indonesia told me that the weather and the climate here and there are pretty much different and makes the pigs gets dirty faster than in Australia. I also noticed that my peruvian pig usually get really dirty after 2-3 weeks, and around 1-1,5 months for short haired pigs. Their cage is big enough, 2x6 for 2 boars and another 2x6 for 3 sows .(yes! pikka get new friends now).

Is it acceptable if I bath them more often because of the different climate?
 

JennG

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I just wanted to add that I use distilled white vinegar to clean my cages but I do a mixture of 50/50 vinegar & water. I've used this combo for the last 5yrs w/ no complications. I'm not sure I could handle inhaling straight vinegar but that's just my opinion.
 

pinky

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I also use 50/50 vinegar and water to clean my cages and add one cup vinegar to my laundry when I wash my fleece.
 

JennG

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I forgot I put vinegar in the piggies' laundry as well. It's really helped keep the ammonia smell out of the fleece and towels.
 
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